This lock was found in the state of Oklahoma, USA but could have come from anywhere.

Photos courtesy of Mike Munsil.
Please email us if you can identify this lock.

The lock is made of forged iron decorated by piercing and filing.
The piercings seem to be representitive of something but it is not clear exactly what they represent.

The mechanism and style hint that this may be an 18th Century lock or older possibly of American origin.

The hasp on this lock penetrated the front of the lock.
This would indicate a hasp that hinged over the front of the lock OR penetrated from the back.
However, there is no apparent wear on the front surface of the lock to indicate that a hasp closed against the front surface.

The lock is 11 cm by 11 cm (4 1/3" by 4 1/3") exactly.
The face is slightly convex and is 2mm (+ 1/16") thick. The lock mechanism is
12 mm (1/2") deep. It is held together by rivets. The
fastener holes on the front vary slightly in size and are slightly
rectangular (that is, as though slightly skewed rectangular objects had
been forced through roundish holes). Corrosion and slightly concave
indentations around the fastener holes indicate that a fastener with a
round head about 6 mm to 8 mm diameter was used in each hole. The shaft
diameter of the fastener would have been around 4 mm (5/32") at the head.

March 4, 2003

RESPONSES:
Dear Mike,

The lock looks like an Hispanic chest lock, fairly typical in size. It is
a mortise lock. It is similar to 19th century Mexican locks, except the
openwork is a little strange. Most Mexican locks had a vee shaped flat
spring with one portion curved. A slight step in the bottom of the curve
fit into a small notch at the top of the bolt...in the locked position.
But some of them had the spring-load on the bolt itself, as pictured. The
drill pin keeper is typical. The edge-filing and incising are typical.